F&R gathered relevant information on the existing runway section and collaborated with the project engineer to recommend the most economical pavement types for individual sections of the project. Our team performed a pavement evaluation and subsurface investigation in the taxiway and apron areas. The airport primarily serves General Aviation aircraft. However, given the recent extension of the main runway (also an F&R project), improvements to the pavements were needed to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft.

Pavement reconstruction projects are a somewhat lost area of expertise. Too often, engineers and designers simply remove failed sections and install new pavements without regard to future pavement performance and/or recycling of existing sections. Instead, F&R observed and documented the current pavement distresses, obtained core samples of the pavement, performed borings to observe subgrade conditions, and provided preliminary recommendations for rehabilitation and replacement alternatives. We discussed our preliminary recommendations with the owner’s representatives to determine the most feasible and cost-effective pavement rehabilitation that accommodated the owner’s future requirements.

F&R was also awarded an additional project to evaluate the airport’s main runway pavement structure, for which we served as the project’s Quality Assurance Inspection and Testing Firm.